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Distracted Teen Driver: New Canaan Teen Could Face Six Months If Convicted in Jogger Death

Bridgeport, Norwalk, Danbury, Ridgefield, Stamford, Connecticut

May 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment

A 16 year old female New Canaan driver was placed under arrest, last week, after police said that she was distracted by the use of a handheld cell phone which resulted in her hitting and fatally injuring a 44-year-old jogger.

The death of Kenneth Dorsey of Norwalk and the subsequent criminal charges against the 16-year-old distracted teen driver come as other states are considering measures to force both teenagers and adults to discontinue using cell phones and other electronic devices when operating a motor vehicle.

Mr. Dorsey, an experienced runner, was training for a marathon and out on a morning jog when he was fatally struck by a distracted teen driver who was operating an SUV. The New Canaan teenage girl, whose identity is being withheld by the police police because of her age, was charged with negligent homicide with a motor vehicle, using a handheld telephone under age 18 while driving and failure to drive in the proper lane.

This tragic accident is prompting renewed calls to remind people to discontinue distracted teen driving habits while operating their vehicles.

“We tried to convey just how this incident illustrates how dangerous it is to be distracted while driving a 3,500-pound vehicle 35 to 40 mph,” Norwalk Police Chief Harry Rilling said. “You need to focus all your attention on what you’re doing. It only takes a second to swerve a few feet. Everybody should look at this and learn from it.”

Connecticut, one of the national leaders in driver safety advocacy, is one of 31 states as well as Washington, D.C., that ban all cellphone use by new drivers, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Additionally, 38 states prohibit texting while driving, with Ohio about to become the 39th state after a proposed ban that Gov. John Kasich has promised to sign this coming Tuesday. Under Ohio’s new law, texting while driving would allow police to pull over a teen for texting while driving.

In 2009, almost 5,500 people in the U.S. were killed in crashes involving distracted driving and almost half a million people were injured, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It has been reported that 16% of all accidents resulting in fatalities in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving. Not surprisingly, teen drivers were more likely than those in other age groups to be involved in a fatal crash where distracted driving was an issue.

The accused distracted teen driver accused of killing Kenneth Dorsey could be sentenced up to six months in jail on the negligent homicide charge if convicted. The lesser charge of using a cell phone under age 18 while driving carries a 30-day license suspension and $175 in license restoration and court fees for a first offense, according to the state DMV.

Education is a large part of accident prevention. As a result of this accident, the New Canaan Police Department is offering a program on June 6 at 7p.m. in the high school to help further educate the public. The fatal accident involving the local girl was part of the impetus for the session, said Sgt. Carol Ogrinc, the department’s youth officer. “But we’ve had accidents involving distracted driving in town and we felt something community-based would be helpful to offer.”

Despite the existing laws and ongoing education programs little comfort is provided to Leo Dorsey of Milford, Ken Dorsey’s father. Mr. Dorsey will advocate for cell phones that will not work if a motor vehicle is moving to prevent the tragedies that have taken the lives of victim’s like his son.

William Seymour, a CT DMV spokesman said that some cell phone providers are studying ways to do just that, possibly by installing a chip in the phone. “I know that different companies are looking at ways to have the cell phone shut off when the engine comes on. We’re attempting to
deal with this issue from the front door, the back door and the side doors,”
he said.

Richard P. Hastings is a Connecticut personal injury lawyer at Hastings, Cohan & Walsh, LLP, with offices throughout the state.  A graduate of Fordham Law School, he has been named a New England Super Lawyer and is the author of the books: “The Crash Course on Child Injury Claims”; “The Crash Course on Personal Injury Claims in Connecticut” and “The Crash Course on Motorcycle Accidents.”  He has also co-authored the best selling book “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing- What Your Insurance Company Doesn’t Want You to Know and Won’t Tell You Until It’s Too Late!” He can be reached at 1(888)CTLAW-00 or by visiting www.hcwlaw.com.

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Connecticut DMV’s Teen Safe Driving Video Contest: How CT High School Students are Making a Difference with Teen Driver Safety

Bridgeport, Norwalk, Danbury, Ridgefield, Stamford, Connecticut

February 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment

This year over 100 teens statewide submitted a video entry into CT DMV’s teen safe driving video contest; From the Directors Chair to the Drivers Seat. These 25-second video public service announcements focus on teens talking to teens about safe driving. This year’s contest centered around the theme; How a Community Helps to Make Teens Safe Drivers.

The top 5 videos will be awarded cash prizes to the winning student’s high school for supporting teen safe-driving programs in the amounts of: 1st Place – $5,000; 2nd Place – $4,000; 3rd Place – $3,000; 4th Place – $2,000; and 5th Place – $1,000. These prizes are underwritten by the Traveler’s Insurance Company.

These 100 videos have already been viewed and evaluated by screening judges. The top 13 of those videos have been evaluated by finalist judges and next Monday the top five videos will be selected at the Traveler’s Insurance Company corporate headquarters in Hartford.

I have the honor of having been chosen as one of those judges along with: Governor Dannel Malloy; DMV Commissioner Melody Curry; Traveler’s President and COO Brian MacLean; State highway officials; Public health officials; Judicial and law enforcement personnel; The co-chair of the State Transportation Committee; high school students; and other parents, some of whom have lost teens in driving accidents.

This is a very exciting opportunity to discuss weighty teen driving issues with the people who are at the forefront of research, development, enforcement and implementation of teen driving rules, regulations and laws. It will provide staunch advocates of teen driving safety a forum to discuss good ideas that will hopefully morph into the implementation of practical solutions that will help to save our teenagers lives.

A lot of good ideas, programs and educational information will hopefully be generated from this meeting that will be shared with communities across the state. However, the best classrooms where this information can be shared with and taught to our teens is within each teen’s home by involved parents who can make a huge difference in reducing teen driving accidents.

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Connecticut’s Safe Teen Driving Awareness Week: Using The New Teen-Driver Agreement to Help Reduce Your Teen’s Crash Risk

Bridgeport, Norwalk, Danbury, Ridgefield, Stamford, Connecticut

December 19, 2011 by Leave a Comment

This week is officially recognized as Connecticut’s Safe Teen Driving Awareness Week which is meant to be an opportunity for community leaders statewide to organize their area teens around the theme of How A Community Helps to Make Teens Safe Drivers.

Connecticut’s Safe Teen Driving Awareness week has taken place in early December for the past several years. This very important educational and awareness week was championed by !MPACT, officially known as Mourning Parents Act, Inc., an organization of families and friends of teens who died in car crashes.

DMV Commissioner Melody Currey’s Advisory Committee on Teen Safe Driving finalized a new Teen-Parent Driver Agreement this week which is being made available to the public to help raise awareness of the dangers of teen driving and to help reduce a teen driver’s crash risk. The Committee, of which I am a member, worked hard at putting together a comprehensive, user friendly agreement that is to be reviewed and signed by new teen drivers and their parent(s).

Teen-Parent Driving Agreements are a proven way to raise awareness of the dangers of teen driving and reduce a teen driver’s risk of being involved in an accident.  Motor vehicle accidents are the number one killer of teenagers.  This Agreement spells out safety risks and what happens if the teen driver violates his/her obligations.  The Agreement is to be reviewed between parent and teen before the teen obtains a learner’s permit, and should be reviewed again when the teen obtains their license.

The new agreement will be placed in the Connecticut driver’s manual for parents and adults involved in a teen driver’s training teens to consider using. It sets out issues for discussion and responsibilities of adults and teen drivers.

DMV Commissioner Melody A. Currey, stated that “The new parent-teen agreement also gives communities as well as parents and teens a good starting point for discussions about safety.”

Dr. Brendan Campbell, pediatric surgeon and researcher in teen driving matters, said, “We all – parents, police, health care providers and all other safety advocates – need to remain vigilant in our outreach to these youngest of drivers. Communities and agreements like this one can help tremendously in stemming this public health problem of crashes being the leading cause of death among 15-19 year-old teens.” Dr. Campbell is Director of Pediatric Trauma at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford.

The new Connecticut Teen-Parent Driver Agreement can be found at:http://www.ct.gov/dmv/lib/dmv/teenparentagreement_dmv_12_2011_final.pdf

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National Teen Driving Safety Week: It Takes a Village to Help Educate Our New Teen Drivers

Bridgeport, Norwalk, Danbury, Ridgefield, Stamford, Connecticut

October 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of teenage deaths. Sadly, each week 68 families across the country have to deal with the unimaginable horror of burying their child. This equates to one teen driving death every two and a half hours. As a result of this epidemic, Congress in 2007 declared that the third week in October is to be recognized as National Teen Driver Safety Week.

CT DMV Commissioner Melody A. Currey announced that her office has taken some special initiatives to help teens and parents understand the importance of safety behind the wheel. The Commissioner has created a special advisory committee, which first met last week, to address the key aspects of promoting safety, the state’s tough laws and training requirements for 16 and 17-year-old drivers. “This is a time nationally and in Connecticut for reminding our youngest drivers and their parents about preparation, caution and diligence behind the wheel,” said Commissioner Currey.

One of the greatest challenges faced by our new drivers is the lack of experience in operating a motor vehicle. This lack of experience and the dangers that are present is highlighted in a new study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety which found that teens are much more likely to get into an accident during the first month of driving.

The data studied concerned teen accidents in North Carolina from 2001 through 2008 and determined that teens were more than 50% likely to get involved in an accident during their first 30 days of unsupervised driving than they were after their first year on the road.  During those first 30 days, first time unsupervised drivers, were almost twice as likely to be involved in an accident than they were after two years behind the wheel.

So what were the main causes of almost 60% of these accidents?  The three most common mistakes made by these inexperienced drivers that resulted in accidents were: speeding, not paying attention and failing to yield to another vehicle. One of the most common driving situations that resulted in accidents was left hand turns. But as teen drivers gained the needed experience accidents involving left hand turns dropped dramatically.

What can parents do, especially during this nationally recognized teen education week, to help reduce teen driving accidents? Be a good role model for your child. Review driving basics with your teen driver including safe stopping distances and being very careful in left hand turn situations. Establish a vehicle safety check that should be performed before operating the vehicle. Go over emergency situations and what to do if one occurs and talk about the common causes of accidents that must be avoided: speeding; distracted driving; and violating motor vehicle laws.

You should also develop rules and backup plans that anticipate that your teen may make a mistake and get into a situation where they may need to call you. This plan should include the understanding that they should call you, without a fear that might otherwise dissuade them from, seeking your needed counsel.

As parents, we can take these much needed opportunities to further educate and train our teens in how to understand anticipate the ever present dangers that they confront on a daily basis in an effort to increase their chances of avoiding an accident. By discussing these thoughts with your children, friends and neighbors we can help each other and hopefully greatly reduce these largely avoidable accidents.

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